Binding wire twisting device



April 17, 1934. G. L. CQLBIE BINDING WIRE TWISTING DEVICE Filed April 23. 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 April 17, 1934. L, QLB|E 1,955,409

BINDING WIRE TWISTING DEVICE Filed April 23, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Gas 1 o//e Patented Apr. 17, 1934 STATES PATENT BINDING WERE TWISTING DEVICE Application April 23, 1932, Serial No. 607,099

13 Claims.

My invention relates generally to apparatus for connecting together the ends of wires which have been stapled to wire bound boxes, crates and the like, by twisting same, one about the 5 other, but more specifically it consists of a small portable device which operates upon a new principle to twist together the overlapped wire ends, and also produce a new form of splice.

One object of the present invention is to provide a wire twisting device which is particularly adapted for use in splicing the ends of binding wires on wirebound boxes of the type which have the binding wires stapled to the box blanks by a method well known in the box making art, while making use of certain staples or other anchorage means for the wire in producing the twist.

The blanks previously formed usually comprise four panels, two side panels, and one top and one bottom panel, which have two or more binding wires stapled thereto to hold them together, and which are adapted to be folded on themselves to form the sides, top and bottom of the box. Two end panels are secured at the ends or" the folded blank to complete the box. After such box is formed and packed, the ends of the binding wires have to be joined together to complete the binding action and seal the package. It is for the latter purpose that my wire twisting device is to be used.

The wire ends to be twisted will lie in substantially parallel relation overlapping one another but extending in opposite directions, that is to say, one wire end will point upward and one downward, if the splice is to be made on one of the side panels of the box. These positions do not require any exact initial arrangement, because of a guide means, provided on my improved twisting device, to guide the wires into their proper position before twisting them together. This latter provision forms another one of the novel features of my invention.

According to the present practice of joining the wire ends together, the said ends are first bent outward perpendicularly to the box wall, and are gripped at a predetermined distance from the box wall between two jaws of a twisting tool, which jaws are revolved circumferentially around the wire ends to thus twist the said wires together. During the twisting operation, one pair of convolutions is formed for each revolution of the twisting jaws until the maximum number permissible within the space between the box wall and said twisting jaws is made. The twisting is continued, however, to

tightly jam the convolutions together, and when the strain upon said convolutions becomes excessive, that portion of the wire ends in direct contact with the jaws will be severed, thus completing the twisting operation. Since the finished twist is projecting outward from the box, it next has to be turned downward parallel to the box wall.

In the form of twist just described, there are certain defective features. One is the excessive strain at the corners, formed when the wire ends are bent perpendicular to the box wall and caused by the continuous twisting action. Another is the natural tendency ior the wires to untwist, when a strain is exerted to spread them apart. Another undesirable feature is the dangerous condition caused when the twisted end is accidently moved from its position parallel to the box.

As contra-distinguished from such former procedure, in the form of twist made with my device, there are no concentrated strains exerted at any particular place and there is no tendency for the wires to become untwisted since any strain is equally divided between each convolution throughout the twisted section. Further more, there is no possibility for the twist to be moved since it normally lies fiat against the box wall after the twist is completed.

Another form of twisting tool commonly used is one which grips a pair of wires, arranged similar to those described for my structure but not stapled, at three points and twists the wires by means of a rotatable center gripping member. It is to be observed, however, that a distinguishing point of difference between this latter device and that of my invention is, that in the device of the prior art it is necessary to grip the overlapped end sections of the wire ends at three points, one at the point of twisting contact and at a point each side of said twisting grip point, to maintain the two originally free ends in a fixed position. This is always an awkward operation, and sometimes a most diflicult one to perform.

In accordance with my invention only one point of grip is required on the wires to be twisted by the twisting device, that being at the point of engagement with the rotatable twisting member. Two other points of anchorage for the free ends of the wires to be twisted are provided by the transverse arrangement thereof at the point where one wire portion is bent around an adjacent box corner, and the other by an adjacent staple; or both anchorages may be provided by two adjacent staples if one such intervenes between the twisting point and any adjacent box corner, all as set forth in my co-pending application Ser. No. 607,093, filed April 23, 1932.

Other features of my invention include a small light weight twisting device which can be carried by the operator from box to box and operated by and which is provided with means to automatically guide the wire ends into their proper positions, one beside the other, for twisting, and which is adapted as above explained to join said wire ends together without exerting any destructive, concentrated or compound strains upon any portion of the wire. The particular form of tool embodying my invention here shown can be easily held in one hand, while the other hand performs the twisting operation, the holding of the tool in proper position being assisted, or effected entirely, by pressure of the operators body applied to the portion 50 of the rod 46, best shown in Fig. 2.

In the following drawings, I have illustrated a preferred form of my invention in which Fig. 1 is a perspective detail of one corner of a wire bound box showing the approximate position of the loose ends of wires, after its formation by the assembly of the constituent blanks and before said wires have been twisted together.

Fig. 2 is a perspective detail similar to Fig. 1, showing the twisting device in its operative position in engagement with the wire ends which are about to be twisted together.

Fig. 3 is a detail, in perspective, on an enlarged scale, of a box corner showing the finished, twisted or spliced joint between the wire ends.

Fig. 4 is a detail similar to Fig. 3 showing an alternative form of twist.

Fig. 5 is a full sized plan view of a preferred form of twisting device with parts broken away. Fig. 6 is an end elevation of the twisting device looking in the direction of arrow 6 on Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged vertical section taken on the lines '77 of Fig. 5.

Fig. 8 is a perspective detail of one form of twisting pinion.

Fig. 9 is an elevational view of the twisting device looking in the directon of arrow 9 on Fig. 5.

Fig. 10 is a detail cross section taken along the lines 1010 of Fig. 5.

Fig. 11 is a horizontal sectional detail view taken on the lines 11 -11 of Fig. 7.

Fig. 12 is a detail vertical sectional view similar to Fig. '7, showing the construction of the modified form of twisting pinion and housing for the structure employed to make a wire twist of the type shown in Fig. 4, and

Fig. 13 is a perspective detail of the pinion used with the structure shown in Fig. 12 for that purpose.

Referring to Figs. 2, 5 and 6, the twisting apparatus comprises a gear wheel 10, mounted on a stud 12, which stud is finally secured within a supporting block 14. A hand operated lever 16, journaled at one end on the pin 12, is fastened to the gear wheel 10 as by means of a pin 18, and has a handle on its free end, for the convenience of the user in obtaining a firm grip, when rotating the gear 10 by means of said lever 16 about the stud 12, back and forth through an angle of about 120 degrees more or less, which will vary according to the number of convolutions desired in the spliced wires.

At the outer or working end of the supporting block 14, a vertically disposed wall 22 is formed, which has an inner curved surface 24, coinciding with the circumferential contour of the gear 10, and provides material within which a journal bearing 29 or 73, for the upper ends of twisting pinions, rotates. A lower journal bearing 31 is provided within the block 14. As shown in Fig. 8, the pinion 26 has two journal sections 28, 29, one projecting beyond each side of the face thereof, each of which journaled sections is bored as at 30, but so as to leave a central portion 32, which is solid, except for the narrow slot 33 therein. A slot, of sufiicient width to permit the twisted wire to freely pass through, is cut through the side of each journal as indicated at 34, and the said narrower slot 33, in the solid central portion 32 lying in the same plane, is of just sufficient width to permit the wires to pass into it, one behind the other, before the twisting operation is started. The cylindrical interiors 30, 30, of the journal portions are of sufficient diameter to allow the two wire sections therein to be twisted one around the other, while the slot 33 is not of suificient width to permit this.

Within the supporting block 14 two slots are milled, one vertical slot 36 (see Figs. '7 and 11) in the top surface of the lower portion of the block, and the other, a horizontal slot 38 in the front face of the block (Figs. 11 and 9). When milling the slot 36, the milling cutter also passes into the wall 22 at 40 (Fig. 11) but terminates therein at a point which leaves a portion of wall 22 for forming a portion of the aforesaid journal bearings 2931 for the journals of pinions 26 or 72, thus providing bearing surfaces 42 (in Fig. 11) against which the pinion journals 28, 29 are forced by the pressure of the teeth of the gear wheel 10, in rotating either of said pinions. The pinion is slipped within the block by first inserting the lower journal into the inner end of the slot 36, and then moving said pinion bodily outward toward the surfaces 42, 42, until the journals come to a bearing thereon. After the gear wheel 10 is next installed with its teeth in engagement with the pinion teeth, the pinion is prevented from moving inward by said gear wheel, but is free to rotate Within its bearings 42, when actuated by the rotation of the gear 10. A diagonal slot 44 is provided in the face of the wall 22, to permit the entrance of the wire ends through the junction slots 34, 34, and into slot 33 for the twisting operation.

A rod 46 is bent to form a brace as indicated in Fig. 2, one end of same being fixed to the support block 14 at 48, and the other end being bent to fit against the body of the operator. The device is held in both hands, the right hand grasping the handle 20 and the left hand grasping the bar 46, until the wire ends enter the twisting pinion member. The left hand is then released to hold down the cover of the box, at which time the device is supported by the body of the operator bearing against the breast brace portion 50 of rod 46, while the right hand is used to swing lever 16 in whichever direction it is then free to move, the complete twisting of the wire to form the splice being effected by one such movement of said lever in one direction, say in a clockwise direction, or in a counterclockwise direction, the next splice can be formed by swinging lever 16 and gear 10 in the opposite direction. The above possibility of simple operation results from the The device as thus far described would always function easily as a wire twisting tool if the free ends of the wire would always lie in close parallel relation and at a fixed distance from the box so that they could easily be grasped by the twisting pinion, but to so arrange the wire ends in such exact position, would involve an extra hand operation. To avoid this, wire pull-up and lead-i fingers 52 are provided which are adapted to slide under the wire end sections and push them through the slots 44 into the central cavity of the pinion member 26 or 72, and the manipulation of these fingers is eifected by the right hand without requiring any releasing of its grip on the handle 20.

This wire lead-in feature comprises a pair of fingers 52, 52, (Figs. 5, 9 and 10) which are preferably formed from heavy guage wire, by bending a proper length thereof into a U-shape after said wire has been inserted into a swinging finger support. 54. This finger support member 54 is pivotally mounted on a pin 55 set in thegear 10, as shown in Fig. 5, and has a trigger lever 56 rigidly secured thereto, which lever is preferably bent as shown so as to bring the free end 57 or" it within convenient range of movement of the thumb of the right hand while the hand grasps handle 20. A spring 58 stretched between one of the fingers 52 and a pin anchorage 60 on the lever 16 serves two purposes, first to hold the fingers 52 in engagement with grooves 62, out in the outer face of wall 22 of the support block 14, and, second, to withdraw both the fingers 52 and finger support member 54 to the right (looking at Fig. 5) whenever the trigger lever 56 is released. One corner of the finger support member abuts against the actuating lever 16, as indicated at 64, whenever the trigger lever 56 is released, and a stop for such withdrawal movement is thus provided.

To operate the device, the user first grasps the handle 20 and arm 46, and moves the device up to the loose ends of the binding wire which has been stapled to a box, arranged approximately as shown in Fig. 1, until both free wire end sections come into engagement with the slot 44. The trigger arm 56 is then moved by the thumb of the right hand so as to rock the finger support member 54 about its pivot pin 55, and by this action cause the fingers 52 to move along the grooves 62. During the movement of said fingers 52, the wire ends are pulled up and forced inward along the slot 44 by the beveled ends 66 of the fingers, until they enter the slot 33 in the central portion of the pinion member 26, whereupon rotation of the gear 10 is started by the movement of the lever 16, which in turn rotates the pinion 26 or 72. After the rotation of said pinion has gone far enough to partly close slot 44, the trigger lever may be released, but the rotation of the gear 10 is continued by the movement of the lever 16, until a pin 68, mounted in and projecting below said gear 10, engages one side of the support block 14. A pin '70, also mounted and projecting below the gear 10, limits the movement of said gear in the opposite direction by striking against the other side of block 14. The said pins 68 and 70 also serve to align the slot 33 in the twist-ing pinion with the slots 44. As the width of slot 33 is only slightly greater than the diameter of one strand of wire, the two strands passing through that slot must twist one around the other as the pinion rotates, thus forming a twisted splice.

With the arrangement shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, when the twisting begins, the lower end of the downwardly extending wire strand 1 will at once become jammed against the staple S, and the upper end 1 will become jammed behind that portion of the binding wire ((3) which passes over the top corner of the box. Obviously, this twisting of the wire will not cause any particular concentrated strains upon those portions thereof which lie beyond the intertwined overlapped ends, because whatever torsion is transmitted beyond those intertwined sections, is not confined to any short length of said portions but distributed along nearly the entire length of the wire, or at least out to the adjacent box corner, since the wire will actually rotate, more or less under most of the staples.

It will also be observed that since the free ends of the wires to be twisted are jammed against the staple S, and the wire sections bent over the corner of the box at C or C, the twisting de-- vice does not have to be provided with any means for gripping the ends of said wires. The rotation of the pinion will cause the wire to twist (looking from the pinion), and if the tool is at a point intermediate of the ends of the splice, a right hand helix will extend from that point on one side of the pinion and a left hand helix from the other side, as shown in Fig. 3. The pin 68 is so located that when it engages the side of the block 14, the slots 33 and 34 in the pinion 26 and pinion journals 28 are all in alignment with slots 44 in the wall 22, thus permitting the twisting device to be easily removed from the twisted joint after the operation has been completed.

From the foregoing explanation, it will be observed that I have produced a wire twisting device which is efiicient in operation, creates a joint or splice of maximum strength without weakening the unspliced adjacent sections, is easily manipulated by one man and has been reduced to the irreducible minimum of simplicity. Obvious- 1y there will always be a short non-helical section of the splice left where the two overlapped sections lie side by side in the narrow slot, and this section 1C may be located at any point in the splice. In Fig. 3 a straight section is shown in the middle of the splice. In Fig. 4 it is located at one end of the splice. This latter arrangement results in a single helix extending along the entire effective length of the splice and is produced by the form of twisting pinion 72 shown in Fig. 13. Said pinion 72 is similar in construction to that of the pinion 26, having two journals, 72, '74, projecting beyond each of the side faces, and a wide slot 76 leading into a central cylindrical cavity 78, but the narrowly slotted section is near the lower end of the lower journal '74, as shown at 82, the slot being shown at 80 in the otherwise solid portion 82. This pinion 72 is installed in the twisting device as shown in Fig. 12. The twisting slot 86 engages the lower free end l of the upper overlapping wire section and the other overlapping section at a point 1 remote from its free end, i. e., at the lower end of the splice. When the splice is twisted, the upper free end l is jammed behind the taut portion of the binding wire indicated at C. The twist in the single wire section below the splice is distributed along the full length of the box wall to which the adjasuch modifications will still be within the scope 1" 0f the invention here claimed, if the principles of operation and results above explained are substantially preserved.

Having described my invention, I claim 1. A tool for making twisted Wire splices comprising the combination of a slotted pinion for grasping a short length of the overlapped wire ends to be spliced, and a gear wheel meshing with said pinion having a pitchli .e diameter many times larger than that of said pinion, a main frame in which said gear and pinion are both joiunaled so as to both be free to rotate in either direction, and a handle fast on said gear wheel and projecting radially therefrom; said main frame comprising a support block having a convex outer edge face provided with a recess in which said pinion is journaled and which is slotted to afiord access to said slotted pinion for wires stretched along any surface against which said block face may be pressed whereby a single movement of said handle in either direction through a relatively restricted arc, such as is easily produced by the motion of one hand of the operator while the frame is held by his other hand, will cause a considerable number of revolutions of said pinion, and thereby form a splice comprising numerous helical convolutions of the interwined wire ends.

2. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination of a carrier block, a toothed driving gear journalled on said block, means for rotating said gear and a pinion adapted to hold overlapping sections of wire near and parallel to its axis, said block being cut away to form a pocket with curved interior walls facing said gear and adapted to serve as journal bearings for said pinion; whereby, after said pinion has been nested in said pocket and said gear wheel has been mounted on its journal, the two will intermesh and the pinion is locked in its pocket.

3. A combination such as defined in claim 2 in which said gear wheel has projections adapted to engage either side of said supporting block; whereby the extent of its rotation is limited so that the pinion may be given only a predetermined maximum number of revolutions in any one direction.

4. A combination such as defined in claim 1 in which said gearing is provided with stop members, either of which when engaged, stops the pinion with its slot in register with the slot in said block.

5. In a wire twisting device, the combination of wire twisting mechanism and means for actuating the same, together with appendages projecting from said mechanism which are adapted to be grasped by the user to support and operate the device, one of such appendages being a rod bent to form a combination handle and breast brace, and the other being a swinging lever operatively connected to said twisting mechanism.

6. In a wire twisting device, the combination of a revolvable element adapted to grasp and twist a pair of parallel wires, a supporting member partly enclosing said element and provided with a slot in its outer face, aifcrding access to said element, a finger slidingly mounted on the slotted face of said member, and m ans for projecting said finger along said face across said slot to push the wires into the slot.

7. A combination such as defined in claim 6 in which said finger end has an inclined surface on the side facing said slot.

8. A combination such as defined in claim 6 in which the wall of said slot facing said finger end is inclined toward said finger end.

9. In a wire twisting apparatus the combination of a supporting block having a convex outer edge face with a transverse slot therein, a wire twisting element journalled in said block at the inner end of said slot, a lever pivoted to said block, and gearing operated by said lever to rotate said element, a finger support mounted on a pivot which moves with said lever, a finger carried by said support and bearing on the slotted face of said block, and manually operable means moving with said lever adapted to either project the end of said finger along said face and across said slot, or to withdraw it from such position.

10. A combination such as defined in claim 9 in which said manually operable means comprises a second lever rigidly set in said support and extending within thumb reach of a hand grasping the end portion of said first lever, together with a spring normally tending to swing said second lever away from said end portion of said first lever, and a stop limiting the range of such spring produced motion.

11. A machine element for use in a wire twisting device wh ch element has a toothed pinion surface with journals extending from either side of said teeth and a straight slot extending through said pinion and journal peripheries, the major portion of the interior of said element being hollowed out in the form of an elongated chamber of sufficient transverse dimensions to permit two sections of a wire of a predetermined diameter to be twisted one over the other therein, but a minor portion of said interior being reduced to a straight slot registering with said first mentioned slot and of a width less than twice said wire diameter; whereby two strands of said wire may be gripped in said narrower slot to prevent their twisting one over another.

12. A machine element such as above defined in claim 11, in which said more narrowly slotted portion is located adjacent to the outer end of one journal.

13. n combination, a wire twisting device and wire guiding mechanism cooperating therewith, adapted to engage the loose ends of a pair of wires lying side by side ready to be twisted together and to force said wire ends into said twisting device without disturbing their relative positions and parallelism.

GUS L. COLBIE. 

